“Scarcity brings clarity,” is a phrase I’m fond of. I try not to use it in writing as it’s a bit shopworn. I keep the sentiment in mind though, when I’m mentally complaining about various constraints at work.
Curious as to who coined it, Google’s Eric Schmidt got my original attribution. Looking a little deeper, Sergey Brin put “scarcity breeds clarity” into the 2008 Google Founders’ Letter to investors. That seems to be the origin, although Marissa Mayer pops up in a Business Week interview with brings and a dateline a few weeks ahead of the Founders’ letter.
Guessing Sergey came up with it, or heard it somewhere else, and popularized it within Google before putting it in the letter.
Just curious.